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The hands fell of my Rolex GMT


Centurion

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Hi there all WIS

I have a Rolex GMT II which I lately have experienced some problems with. First, the indice at 12 o'clock fell off. I had to open the caseback and glue the indice on again. Problem solved, I thought. When I put the caseback on again I noticed that the second hand was loose and basically "flew" around inside the watch. Then I opened it up again and tried to fix it, but it seems like I made more damage than I solved because now both the second hand AND the hour hand is loose.

I have not made any approaches to local watchmakers because I feel like this is probably something I can fix on my own (especially if some of the great guys here point me in the right direction).

What do I have to do? Do I have to take all the hands off the "stem" (is that the correct term?) and reconnect it? If so, how do I in the right way?

Any help appreciated.

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2 possibilities - either the hands were loose on their pinions (the small pins the hands fit onto) or the riveting that holds the hand 'wand' onto its tube was not made correctly & the hand wands are now spinning freely on their tubes. If the hands are just loose (assuming the hole in the bottom of the hand tubes is the correct size), you should be able to gently press them back on. I would wear latex gloves or protect the hands with tissue paper so you do not get fingerprints on the hands. If the riveting between the wand & tube is the problem, you will need to either get replacement hands from your seller or try to cement them back together with some slow drying metal epoxy (available at many automotive parts or hardware stores). This type of work requires a 4x loupe and a good deal of manual dexterity to get the parts permanently cemented together without getting the cement on the wrong part, so if in doubt, just replace the hands or let a watchmaker handle the repairs.

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